We can never be one hundred percent certain of the validity of our literary analyses. This is especially the case with Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener”. Critics have been trying for decades to make sense of the text and most will describe it as “inscrutable”. I don’t claim to know better than the critics, but instead offer my own interpretation of the work. Based on my observations and analysis, Melville’s use of many elements in his story—first and foremost the character of Bartleby, but also the dead letters, the many walls of Wall Street, and the state of Wall Street itself—works well to develop a sense of hopelessness, whether intentional or not, in the story as well as the narrator and consequently the reader. This hopelessness could stem from a number of influences, such as a certain “incurable disorder” which some critics would argue is schizophrenia (Wilson), the quality of human futility in general, or the capitalist society in which Melville’s characters’ lives play out.
In order to understand Bartleby’s influence on the hopeless atmosphere of the story, we must first understand the character of Bartleby and how he differs greatly from the others. Bartleby is described as having a “cadaverously gentlemanly nonchalance” (1096) and being solitary, friendless and lonely; “like a very ghost” (1095). Mitchell, in his critical essay, also observes that “Bartleby seems incapable of recognizing the possibility of hope.” (Mitchell) Finally, Bartleby is apathetic and whenever something is requested of him he simply replies “I would prefer not to.” The lawyer, on the other hand is intensely focused on the values of Wall Street such as money, productivity and usefulness. Bartleby proves a great frustration to the lawye...
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...y not know the cause of Bartleby's suffering, but he does know that Bartleby's despair can lead only to death” (Mitchell).
Works Cited
Inge, M Thomas. Bartleby the Inscrutable: A Collection of Commentary on Herman Melville’s Tale “Bartleby the Scrivener”. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1979. Print.
Wilson, James C. “’Bartleby’: The Walls of Wall Street.” Arizona Quarterly 37.4 (Winter 1981): 335-346. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 April 2015.
Mitchell, Thomas R. “Dead Letter and Dead Men: Narrative Purpose in ‘Bartleby, the Scrivener.’.” Studies in Short Fiction. 27.3 (Summer 1990): 329-338. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 April 2015.
Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew. “Doing Justice to Bartleby” ATQ: A Journal of American Nineteenth Century Literature and Culture n.s. 17.1 (March 2003): 23-42. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 April 2015.
Bartleby- The Scrivener In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener”, the author uses several themes to convey his ideas. The three most important themes are alienation, man’s desire to have a free conscience, and man’s desire to avoid conflict. Melville uses the actions of an eccentric scrivener named Bartleby, and the responses of his cohorts, to show these underlying themes to the reader. The first theme, alienation, is displayed best by Bartleby’s actions. He has a divider put up so that the other scriveners cannot see him, while all of them have desks out in the open so they are full view of each other, as well as the narrator. This caused discourse with all of the others in the office. This is proven when Turkey exclaims, “ I think I’ll just step behind his screen and black his eyes for him.”(p.2411) The other scriveners also felt alienated by the actions of the narrator. His lack of resolve when dealing with Bartleby angered them because they knew that if they would have taken the same actions, they would have been dismissed much more rapidly. The narrator admits to this when he said, “ With any other man I should have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from my presence.” (2409) The next theme is man’s desire to avoid conflict. The narrator avoids conflict on several occasions. The first time Bartleby refused to proofread a paper, the narrator simply had someone else do it instead of confronting him and re...
People one can never really tell how person is feeling or what their situation is behind closed doors or behind the façade of the life they lead. Two masterly crafted literary works present readers with characters that have two similar but very different stories that end in the same result. In Herman Melville’s story “Bartleby the Scrivener” readers are presented with Bartleby, an interesting and minimally deep character. In comparison to Gail Godwin’s work, “A Sorrowful Woman” we are presented with a nameless woman with a similar physiological state as Bartleby whom expresses her feelings of dissatisfaction of her life. Here, a deeper examination of these characters their situations and their ultimate fate will be pursued and delved into for a deeper understanding of the choice death for these characters.
Parker, who wrote the script with Catherine di Napoli, has transported Melville’s story into a surreal contemporary nowhere world,” (Scott, 2001). The last resource being used in this research paper is an article wrote by Damon smith called “Poorly conceived “Bartleby” fails to bring characters to life”, this article discusses the drastic changes in the 2001 film “Bartleby”, compared to Melville’s original writings. Smith feels that these changes does not give Melville’s short story the justice that it deserves. These three sources are credible scholar articles that will provide comparative information to help support my thesis as well as primary points with this research. There are more differences in the movie and book that effect the way that the short story may have been perceive in its time. Parker takes a 18th century story and modernizes it to fit a culture that the viewers are in to help them to understand what Melville was trying to interpret in his writings. To some those drastic changes dampened the story and to others it made it more understandable and exciting. This research will show those differences as well as the similarities and show that the symbolism in both kinds of literature is the
Melville’s use of verbal irony allows for a deeper understanding of Bartleby’s character. Bartleby states that he would rather be assigned a position that is not as confined as a clerk; however, in reality, his behavior indicates that he prefers to be isolated. The narrator cannot understand why Bartleby expresses a disliking for confinement when he keeps to himself the majority of his time. As he
Melville, Herman. "Bartleby the Scrivener." The Story and Its Writer. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: St. Martin's, 1995: 513-539.
The author of the story presents the questions of what is valuable in society and how those that resist these values are dealt with and answers them through Bartleby's actions from his life to his death. Society values things such as money and working to make money where human things such as sentimentalities and emotions are not worth holding onto and when one refuses to work he is left with choices of imprisonment in a cell or imprisonment in a job where Bartleby instead chose to die, to be free of such a world that does not value freedoms and humanity.
Bartleby demonstrates behaviours indicative of depression, the symptoms he has in accordance with the DSM-IV are a loss of interest in activities accompanied by a change in appetite, sleep, and feelings of guilt (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, 320). Very shortly after Bartleby begins his work as a Scrivener he is described by the narrator as having done “nothing but stand at his window in his dead-wall revery”. (Melville, 126) In contrast, Bartleby had previously been described as a very hard worker and this process of doing increasingly less shows how his a diminishing sense of interest both in his work but also of the perception others have of him. It is also noted that included in this lack of interest is a social withdrawal (DSM—IV, 321) which corresponds well to Bartleby in that his workspace becomes known as his “hermitage”. During small talk which included Bartleby he says that he “would prefer to be left alone”. (Melville, 120) Bartleby only emerges from his hermitage when called upon and quickly returns when faced with confrontation.
In Herman Melville's short story, Bartleby, the Scrivener, the narrator's attitude towards Bartleby is constantly changing, the narrator's attitude is conveyed through the author's use of literary elements such as; diction-descriptive and comical, point of view-first person, and tone-confusion and sadness.
To begin, the focus will be set on the issues posed by the story of Bartleby. The audience may wonder why Bartleby goes from the employee who does his work without being problematic, to one who repetitively
The infamous ending statement in Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener,” “Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!” (Melville 34), signifies not only the tragic demise of the character of Bartleby, but the dismal ruin of mankind as well. This enigmatic statement can be applied to both “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Melville’s other short story, “Benito Cereno.” Both stories are narrated by unreliable characters, leaving further questions on whether or not the Lawyer was genuinely trying to help Bartleby when he showed signs of depression or if the one-sided story of Captain Delano truly portrayed the slaves and their motives for taking over Cereno’s San Dominick. In each of Melville’s short stories, there is an obvious grayness about each tale, the plots of both stories start out slow and unsuspicious, but are then revealed through a dynamic change in events, and each novella has ultimate realities that are hidden through appearances. Together, “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “Benito Cereno” are stories that possess a deep meaning within them which is intended to make the reader question the definition of human nature.
Franklin, H. Bruce. "Bartleby: The Ascetic's Advent." Melville's Short Novels: Authoritative Texts, Contexts, Criticism. Ed. Dan McCall. New York: Norton, 2002. 176-85.
Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville are two authors who belong to dark Romanticism. They both have created various works and have different styles of expression. However, their writing can be related with one another at some points. The story of “Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville begins when a lawyer complains that this profession has took him "into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men the law-copyists or scriveners" (Melville 2). Bartleby is a person who is hired by a lawyer; even that he has three other copyists working for him in his office. He always admits to do all the work he is asked, expect one day when he is asked to examine a file Bartleby replies: "I would prefer not to" (Melville 8). At first, that seemed acquitted, but rapidly it becomes a chant. At the other hand, “William Wilson” by Edgar Allan Poe talks about a character that gives everything to fulfill his ambition, who afterward loses his identity and don’t know who he is anymore. The things start getting complicated when he realizes that another person exists with the exact appearance, name, the way of speaking, and even the same birthday as his. Subsequently, William Wilson becomes obsessed with the second William Wilson and at the start they find it hard to ignore each other, while their peers thought that they were brothers. At the end of the story, William Wilson who is angry and annoyed with the other Wilson confronts him, where second William Wilson finds death. The main similarity of the main characters of the stories of “Bartleby the Scrivener” written by Herman Melville and “William Wilson” written by Edgar Allan Poe is because they both are described in the first person. I w...
“Bartleby, the Scrivener” is one of The Piazza Tales written by Herman Melville which was one of his greatest works that express the author’s groundbreaking beliefs through a relationship between a narrator and his coworkers. The narrator is a successful lawyer who hires Bartleby. Shortly after, Bartleby manages to drive the narrator crazy by doing absolutely nothing. Doing this, Melville introduces several important prompts for the reader to ponder over. These prompts are introduced to us and justified through Melville’s symbolism. Melville’s great uses of symbolism strongly address three major contentions to his audience: his critique against capitalism, his philosophical stance on the value of life, and his reaction towards his audience’s feedback.
Melville, Herman. “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2012. 1483-1509. Print.
Sometimes when we read a story it doesn’t end in the way that we like or expect it to. Because of this we are left with the oh so common “cliffhanger” wonder what happened to a character or how the story goes on. This can be very frustrating but is probably the best way for an author to leave things. Sometimes, even though we don’t know what is happening, it is the best thing for the story. The not knowing what happened conclusion leaves the reader to think about what they believe happened and also if there is a sequel it ensures the reader will buy the next part of the tale. A great example, of how leaving the story with no conclusion, is shown in Herman Melville’s “Bartleby” making it even more clear that a story without a conclusion is